Labour market dynamic of nurse workforce in Thailand

Muangyim, Kamolnat (2012) Labour market dynamic of nurse workforce in Thailand. PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

Difficulties in attracting and retaining health workers in disadvantaged areas are the main causes of inequitable distribution of health workers. This study aims to explore the dynamics of labour market of nurse workforce to improve the national nurse workforce planning in Thailand. Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) analysis shows that the participants prefer jobs offered in rural areas, offering higher income, civil service scheme health benefit, provision of private accommodation at the workplace, short time to wait for promotion, supportive management, and fewer working hours/week respectively. The result also shows that a participant is ready to sacrifice 8413 THB/month in exchange for a civil service post. In addition, the availability of civil service post with "moderate" monthly income (25,000 THB), in a rural health facility near their family's place could increase rural job uptake by 85%. Factors significantly influencing job satisfaction are income, management, workload, and gender. Male nurses tend to have a higher level of job satisfaction than female nurses. Factors significantly affecting intention to move are job satisfaction, health benefit, and workload. A factor significantly determining movement is distance from home. The theoretical workforce mobility model developed from job search theory was tested by Structural Equation Modelling shows that job preference is a source of job satisfaction. It does not have significant direct effect on intention to move or movement. Thus job preference implication on retention strategy is questionable. Job satisfaction significantly influences intention to move rather than movement. It is only intention to move which is an independent predictor for the movement. The analysis of job history shows that the participants seem to move within the same sector, between the similar types of workplace. If the movement between sectors is the main concern, the movement from private sector to public sector is the dominant pattern. Nurses working in Bangkok tend to move out to other big cities or rural areas. The career pathway of nurses working in the public sector start in provincial hospitals, then moves to district hospital, and ends at community health centres. The majority of direction of movement direction is towards their families. Most of the planning assumptions adopted in the current National Nurse Workforce Plan in Thailand are in line with the current health labour situation, such as selective recruitment policy and financial incentives. Additional suggestion is that the Thai government should add job satisfaction, motivation strategy at institutional level using the same guideline and indicators identified in this study.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	19 Oct 2023 17:53
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2023 18:02
DOI:	10.17638/03174248
Copyright Statement:	Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis and any accompanying data (where applicable) are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3174248